Friday, October 7, 2016

When the Magic Blows Away

October 7, 2016

Dear Christa—

As Joy and Shane sit in a Disney hotel room, I think the magic has blown away
with the hurricane. Last night Shane waited hours in line to purchase 4 food
boxes that contained 3 meals to sustain them through today. As Shane waited in
line, Joy wasn’t sure how much food the boxes would contain. Thinking it might
just be supper last night, they had decided they’d ration out the food for the
boys and fast for a day. As Joy said, “There are plenty of people around the
world who go more than a day without food.”

Her comment reminded me of something a parent who’d been to
Haiti (where a hundred people died in this storm) said to Jay. She told him
that while there on a missions trip this summer, a little girl said to her, “You
mean you get to eat every day?” It’s been a question that’s kind of haunted me
since he told me about it at the beginning of the school year.

I don’t know what today will hold for our family in
Orlando. (I think it will be long.) I don’t know why such a special vacation has
turned out this way. But, even in the midst of the storm, there is magic all
around. It’s seen in the frost on the pumpkin and snow on Pikes Peak. The strength
of an omnipotent God is revealed both literally and metaphorically as He rages
up a mighty sea, and calms it down again.

There is shelter; there is food; and they are together. It
might turn in to a magical day after all.